Luckily for me, I did not have to invent the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado, Arizona, or the Navajo Nation’s library and law enforcement headquarters in Window Rock, or the towns of Oak Springs, Chinle, Winslow, Fort Defiance, Crystal, Shiprock, Flagstaff, and most other places in the book. However, the community of Big Rocks is a product of my imagination. My sincere appreciation to Edison Eskeets, the trader at the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, for his wonderful explanation of Navajo weaving.
Retired Navajo Police Captain Steve Nelson drove out of his way to share some law enforcement stories with me. Lt. Michelle Williams of the Santa Fe Police Department gave me insight into the process whereby an officer moves from patrol to detective. Lt. Chad Pierce, New Mexico State Police, helped me understand the fate of vehicles involved in fatal accidents. Speech therapist Jeanne Jebb-Tracey passed along information about the challenges people face as they recover from a brain injury and learn to speak again. I Choose Life: Contemporary Medical and Religious Practices in the Navajo World by Maureen Trudelle Schwarz (University of Oklahoma Press, 2008) guided me in dealing with other medical issues. Dorothy Fitch, this book’s official godmother, opened her guest house to me as a writing studio. I sat surrounded by her marvelous collection of books and, often, with a plate of her special cookies for inspiration. I am forever grateful.
Authors sometimes are asked to offer naming rights to a character as a way to help a non-profit group raise money. In Santa Fe, ARTsmart provides children in northern New Mexico with educational opportunities in the arts that promote confidence, self-discovery, and creative problem-solving skills. At their annual fund-raising event, I met Jim and Wanda Bean, the high bidders for a dinner with me and a name in this book. Jim died unexpectedly after the event. I am grateful that Wanda followed through, inviting me to share a meal with family and friends and giving me wonderful insight into who Jim Bean was. The world needs more people with his love for the arts and tremendous generosity. He was not a postal inspector in real life, but I’m sure he would have handled the job with passion and been a great friend to Joe Leaphorn.
Without Rebecca Carrier’s devoted and fierce attention to Bernie, this book would not be half as good. I mean it. Thank you. David and Gail Greenberg, I appreciate your insights on the inner workings of law enforcement and the intricacies of grammar, and your ongoing tolerance for my mistakes. Your help means more than I can say. Jim Wagner of Daddy Wags Editing saved me from some embarrassing errors, including a river that flowed the wrong way. Lucy Moore’s tremendous wisdom and generosity encouraged and buoyed me and Bernie as we confronted the bad guy.
A shout out to my agent, Elizabeth Trupin-Pulli, and my editor, Carolyn Marino, for not flinching when I told them it was time to bring Lt. Joe Leaphorn back as a crime solver, and for their wise assistance in making him true to the character Tony Hillerman created thirty-some years ago. Thanks to copy editor Mary Beth Constant for her skilled work and to Rachel Elinsky, Hannah Robinson, and Tom Hoppe at HarperCollins for their assistance in bringing The Tale Teller into print.
And a warm thank you to John Harris Trestrail, III, for his sage advice on microdosing as an interesting tool for murderous villainy. His book, Criminal Poisoning, and his generosity with his time and ideas were tremendously helpful. I am delighted that the New Mexico chapter of Sisters in Crime, Croak and Dagger, invited Trestrail and me to speak at the same writing conference. Trestrail also worked with the man to whom I owe the deepest debt of gratitude, my father, Tony Hillerman.
Bookstores and libraries have millions of titles to choose from and I appreciate all of you for stocking my books. Special thanks also go to the librarians and bookstore owners who have welcomed me into their community rooms to talk about what it’s like to be a writer. From Datil’s Baldwin Cabin to Murder by the Book in Houston, with a special shout out to Collected Works in Santa Fe, Maria’s in Durango, and, of course, Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale. Thank you and your colleagues for all you do for us authors.
Finally, there would be no need for books if there weren’t readers out there to enjoy them. A standing ovation to all the readers and book clubs who helped me continue the legacies of Bernadette Manuelito, Jim Chee, and Joe Leaphorn. Stories are made to be shared, and I am honored and humbled to share them with you.
About the Author
Anne Hillerman is an award-winning reporter and editor, the author of several nonfiction books, and the daughter of New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Tale Teller is her fifth novel.
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Also by Anne Hillerman
Cave of Bones
Song of the Lion
Rock with Wings
Spider Woman’s Daughter
Tony Hillerman’s Landscape: On the Road with Chee and Leaphorn
Gardens of Santa Fe
Santa Fe Flavors: Best Restaurants and Recipes
Ride the Wind: USA to Africa
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
the tale teller. Copyright © 2019 by Anne Hillerman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
first edition
Cover design by Jarrod Taylor
Cover photographs © Jamie Grill/Getty Images (Land); © Jim Gallop/Getty Images (clouds)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
Digital Edition APRIL 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-239197-1
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-239195-7
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